FOOD OF INSECTS. 421 



with surprising address she envelops it with threads in 

 various directions, until both its wings and legs being ef- 

 fectually fastened, she carries it off to her den. If the 

 captured insect be a bee or a large fly so strong that the 

 spider is sensible it is more than a match for her, she 

 never attempts to seize or even entangle it, but on the con- 

 trary assists it to disengage itself, and often breaks off 

 that part of the net to which it hangs, content to be rid 

 of such an unmanageable intruder at any price. — When 

 larger booty is plentiful, these spiders seem not to regard 

 smaller insects. I have observed them in autumn, when 

 their nets were almost covered with the Aphides which 

 filled the air, impatiently pulling them off and dropping 

 them untouched over the sides, as though irritated that 

 their meshes should be occupied with such insignificant 

 game. — A species of spider described by Lister, (A. co- 

 nica,) more provident than its brethren, suspends its prey 

 in the meshes above and below the centre, and it is not 

 uncommon to see its larder thus stored with several flies a . 

 You must not infer that the toils of spiders are in every 

 part of the world formed of such fragile materials as those 

 which we are accustomed to see, or that they are every 

 where contented with small insects for their food. An 

 author in the Philosophical Transactions asserts, that the 

 spiders of Bermudas spin webs between trees seven and 

 eight fathoms distant, which are strong enough to ensnare 

 a bird as large as a thrush b . And Sir G. Staunton in- 

 forms us, that in the forests of Java, spiders' webs are 

 met with of so strong a texture as to require a sharp-cut- 

 ting instrument to make' way through them c . 



a Lister, Hist. Anim, Aug. 32, tit. 4, b Phil. Tr. 1668, p. 792. 

 c Embassy to China, i, 343. 



